The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned against the increasing imbalance between the supply and consumption of water in 19 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, among them Egypt, owing to the shortage and inadequate use of water as well as the increase in drought and desertification related to climate changes.
In a recent conference in Cairo about the shortage of water, Regional Manager of FAO in Cairo Abdel Salam Wld Ahmed said that FAO does its best to coordinate with member countries in the region to stop the imbalance between supply and consumption.
Mr Ahmed referred to the initiative launched by FAO two years ago on the sustainable management of water used in agriculture, and achieving food security in the Near East and North Africa. He said that the initiative allowed the development of a regional cooperation strategy for sustainable management of water used in agriculture, which can serve to identify and simplify policies and practices to attain water and food security. He said FAO was working with regional partners to identify governance reform and economic, institutional and technical options, and to encourage innovative perspectives and non-traditional ideas to meet the challenges related to improving the efficiency and sustainability of water used in agriculture.
He explained that FAO was currently working on a pilot satellite system to determine the adequate exploitation of groundwater in the 1.5 Million Feddan Project in Egypt. It also provides suggestions about how to increase the longevity of groundwater wells.
Watani International
8 November 2015